Infinite Obsession
by Anokaso
Summary: A deranged digimon plots the perfect plan to capture his beloved. Now the scars of battles past rip open to unleash the greatest terror the Tamers have ever known.
1. In Sickness and In Health

Infinite Obsession  
Part 1 - In Sickness and In Health 

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Disclaimer: Toei and Bandai own/created Digimon. The English rights to Digimon are owned by Saban. Saban is now owned by Disney. Frightening thought isn't it? No infringement intended. 

Notes: This is set after Tamers. Ruki et al are 14 which puts Ryo around 18. We're working from canon for the series, canon being Ruki and Ryo at the very least like each other, all the digimon are back in the Digital World, and Ryo _is_ the Ryo from the Wonderswan video games (_Yes_, that is canon from the producer's own words). Don't expect the canon to be the Holy Grail of this fic though, we like twisting things a great deal. 

Authors: The members of Anokaso involved in the writing of this evil little round robin are: Mei-chan no Kage, Angra Mainyu and Ajora. The parts each wrote are duly noted. 

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Part Written by Mei-chan no Kage

Makino Ruki wasn't the most patient person. Of all the things she was known for, patience definitely wasn't one of them. She was even less patient when the person she was supposed to be meeting was nearly an hour late and when she had called his house there had been no answer. She should have just made him get a cell phone, things would have been much easier. She had even put on some makeup for his benefit... okay, just some lipgloss, but still. Where the hell was he? 

Ruki glared sullenly at the people coming and going around her. Far too many people had met up and left already, it was incredibly annoying that she was still waiting on _him_ while these other people had already gone off to enjoy themselves. She was going to kill him. He was just going to have to get a cell phone. She'd _make_ him get one. Glancing up at the statue of Hachiko, Ruki scowled. She may not be able to put a real leash on him, but she'd be damned if she didn't force a digital one on him after _this_. 

Speak of the devil, there he was now coming out of the train station. Ruki stayed seated on the bench, still scowling and with one eyebrow cocked up as she watched him dart across the walkway and scan the crowd for her. Ryo winced slightly as he caught sight of her. Good, she was going to make sure he knew _just_ how annoyed with him she was. 

Ryo mentally sighed as he trotted over to Ruki. She didn't look at all pleased, and who could blame her considering he had almost had to stand her up. "Sorry-" he started out. 

"You're late." Ruki stated tonelessly, cutting him off in mid-excuse. "I've waited for nearly-" Ruki checked her watch, "no, _over_ an hour for you. Where were you? Why didn't you call me?" 

"I really am sorry," Ryo said as he rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously. "I didn't think it would take so long, but dad wanted me to-" 

"Oh, not him again." Ruki rolled her eyes skyward. "When is he going to figure out you're his son not his servant? And _why_ don't you ever say no? You _did_ have a date with me, oh legendary tamer, remember?" 

"I'm sorry, it's complicated," Ryo explained lamely, mentally berating himself an instant later. Now she'd want an explanation that he wasn't all that inclined to give. However, he was surprised when she didn't say anything after that, instead she just looked at him funny. What did he do now? 

Ruki stared up at Ryo's face, worry starting to replace her annoyance. He looked pale, too pale. Was he getting sick? Reaching up, she touched his forehead and frowned. He did feel a little hot. "Ryo, are you feeling okay?" she asked in concern. 

"Eh?" Ryo blinked in surprise. Well, that was a quick change of subject, not that he minded at this point. It was better than her yelling at him. "Uh... yeah, I guess. Just a little tired really." 

"If you say so," Ruki trailed off, a plan for later starting to form in her mind. Yes, she liked that idea and it would work too. She just had to get him through the afternoon. Lacing her arm in his, she smiled up at him and pointed towards the shops. "Anyway, you were taking me on date, right?" 

"Uh, yeah," Ryo blushed and allowed her to drag him off. Ruki always did like to take charge, not that he minded. He liked being around her, after all. At least she seemed to like him, which was an improvement considering other _aspects_ of his life. 

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Part Written by Angra Mainyu

"So," Ruki began, leading Ryo along gently, "where shall we go first?" 

"How's Juri doing?" Ryo asked, neatly evading the potentially deadly question. 

Ruki looked at him, her eyes softening a little, then averted her gaze and looked at the ground a little sheepishly. "Well, she's obviously still hurting. Leomon's death just sort of ... broke her, I guess. She hasn't been the same since, no matter how much she hides it. Still, I think she's doing better." 

She grinned. "Just like when you saw her six hours ago. You're just trying to distract me, aren't you?" She looked over at him. 

Ryo was gone. 

"Ryo?" She whirled, trying to spot him. "_Ryo?!_" 

_There!_ Just on the edge of her vision, she saw him for a split-second, lurching into an alley. She dashed over and ran in as quickly as she could, nearly hitting the corner of the closest building in the process. 

It was the filthiest alley she had ever seen ... but it hadn't been that way just a moment before. Bloodstains covered the walls and ground. Scorch marks and cracks persisted where the blood was not. It reeked of death. Ryo knelt on the cracked, dark concrete, vomiting something noxious and black. 

Before she could so much as call to him again, the ground began to shake, and an unidentifiable voice, the deepest Ruki had ever heard, began speaking. 

"I will never forget you ... I will never leave you ... come to me again ... my love ..." 

The alley suddenly _shifted_, now bright and not so much as resembling forboding. Ryo, no longer retching, knelt on all fours and shivered in mortal terror. 

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Part Written by Ajora

"Just like when you saw her six hours ago. You're just trying to distract me, aren't you?" 

Ryo laughed nervously at that and looked away. Well, anywhere that wasn't Ruki, at least. "Oh, not at all. I just, ah, didn't really have anything planned." 

Normally she would have said something or teased him for it by now. Quick, dumbass, come up with something. "I think Bunkamura isn't too far away. Maybe we can catch a movie there or something, then try that new cafe." More silence. She was probably getting annoyed with him for something he couldn't yet grasp. Great. "Only if you want to. If not, we can catch the train to Meiji Shrine and Omotesando..." 

Ryo glanced back at the girl as his voice trailed off. Her eyes looked thoroughly blank, as if she was worlds away. That definitely worried him. Odd how the tables turned so quickly. "Ruki?" 

She didn't respond to either his voice or his waving a hand in front of her face. Only when he grasped her shoulders to shake her out of it did she blink and clarity return to her eyes. When it did, she looked up at him in what he could only guess as surprise. 

It was as if time and space had been displaced. One minute Ruki was watching Ryo shivering in terror in an alley and the next he was standing here and looking down at her in concern, as if it had never happened. A hallucination, perhaps? Shaking her head, she shrugged Ryo's hands off her shoulders and tried to compose herself. Disturbing the scene may have been, but it wasn't real. 

"I'm fine, Ryo," she started before he got it into his head that hovering over her was a good thing. "Where did you say you wanted to take me again?" 

A small, relieved smile crossed Ryo's face. At least she was back to normal. "I hadn't really had plans, but Bunkamura is close by. Maybe we can catch a movie and hit one of the restaurants for dinner?" 

"Sounds fine. Why don't you lead the way?" 

Ruki was tempted to smile as her approval brought forth a grin of delight on Ryo's face. He was really much too easy to please. She couldn't help but wonder at the vision which lingered in the back of her mind, even as Ryo lead her down the street leading to Bunkamura. Was it a warning? Just a hallucination? Nevertheless, it was probably best she not mention this to him at the moment. There were other things to deal with. 

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Part Written by Mei-chan no Kage

Several hours later, dusk was settling over the city as they walked back towards the train station arm in arm. Ryo was pleased, Ruki seemed to have enjoyed herself even though he was so late to begin with. He had never been good at reading people, so he was never quite sure whether he'd end up making her happy or making her angry. She could get so annoyed on some of the oddest things. But right now, she was happy and that was definitely a good thing. 

"That movie was so cheesy," Ruki said with the hint of a chuckle in her voice, "but it was fun to watch." Tilting her head to the side as if in thought, she continued, "It sort of reminded me of that old sentai show... what was it... oh right, Harikenja. Especially when the sensei turned himself into a hamster. Not that I ever watched sentai, of course." 

"Of course not," Ryo murmured and smiled. The movie had been amusing and the fact that she found it funny even more so. After all, not too long ago he could have been classified as a blatant sentai ripoff. That was in the past though... there was so much in the past now. 

Ruki's good mood faded as they walked on in silence. Stealing a glance up at Ryo, she rolled her eyes and looked away. He was brooding about _something_ again, and no matter what she did she couldn't get him to tell her what it was. He could be so frustrating at times. 

Giving Ryo another quick glance, Ruki sighed soundlessly. He was paler than he had been earlier, and she had no doubt that his fever was getting worse. Oh well, she'd just have to follow through with her plan. "Since you were _late_ arriving, you can at least make it up to me by seeing me home," she said in as guileless a tone of voice as she could manage. 

"Oh, well, uh, sure," Ryo replied instantly, stumbling over the words in his haste. He certainly wasn't going to turn down a little more quality time with Ruki. And... oh crap, his dad was going to kill him for being so late getting home. But well, it _was_ Ruki. She was worth suffering his wrath, and it wasn't like _his_ disappointment was anything new. 

"Good," Ruki said and smirked. Ryo might be utterly frustrating at times, but at other times it was quite easy to get him to do what she wanted him to. Once she had him at her house, he wouldn't be able to say no to her plan either. 

~*~ 

"I'm home!" Ruki called out as she walked through the door, stepping out of her shoes and pushing them off to the side before slipping on her house slippers. Turning around, she eyed Ryo who was hesitating just beyond the doorway. "Don't just stand there. Come in." 

"Ah..." Ryo trailed off uncertainly as he stepped within and quickly replaced his shoes with the guest slippers. He really should be getting home now. Ruki started to walk off down the hallway, giving him little chance to say anything further though. He followed after her, blinking in confusion as she took her cell phone out and started to dial in a phone number. Who was she calling? 

Ruki walked over to the study and peered inside, unsurprised at what she saw: her grandmother glued to the computer. "Have you eaten anything yet?" she asked offhandedly, knowing that sometimes her grandmother lost track of time when she was on the net. 

"Of course, Ruki dear. How was your date?" Seiko asked casually as she glanced up from the monitor. "Oh, hello Ryo." She smiled warmly as he walked up behind her granddaughter. 

"Hello ma'am," Ryo said, returning the smile with his own while he attempted to fight down a blush at her familiarity. 

"Now now, if you must be so formal at least miss, though you could always call me Seiko or grandmother," Seiko grinned impishly as Ryo lost his battle with his blush at her teasing. She looked up at Ruki curiously when the girl handed her the cell phone. "What is it?" 

"I've dialed up the Akiyamas' number. You just need to hit the call button," Ruki explained breezily as she turned around and headed back towards the door. "Ryo's spending the night." 

"What?!" Ryo blurted out as Ruki reached up and felt his forehead again. "But-but-but, I really have to get home." 

"I see." Seiko hummed thoughtfully and then asked, "What reason am I supposed to give for this?" 

"I'm sure you'll come up with something," Ruki replied absently, scowling at how hot he felt. He was probably going to be even worse in the morning. No way was she going to let him go home and get run ragged by that _family_ of his when he was obviously getting sick. 

"And what's the real reason?" Seiko asked, figuring she already knew the answer by watching Ruki's actions. 

"He has a fever," Ruki stated as she glanced over her shoulder at her grandmother. "He needs to rest and he won't do that if he goes home." She grabbed Ryo's arm and dragged him off towards the guest room, effectively ending the conversation. 

"Ah, Ruki dear, who would have thought you'd turn into such a mother hen," Seiko tsked and smiled in amusement as she hit the call button. 

~*~ 

"Ruki," Ryo started off as she dragged him into the guest room and started going about making the futon up. "You don't need to do this." She deposited a folded up blanket in his arms. "I'm fine, really." She shook out the sheets and started putting them on the mattress. "I really should go home." 

Ryo eeped as Ruki glared up at him and practically snarled, "Am I going to have to sleep in here with you to make sure you stay put?" 

"Of course not!" Ryo nearly shouted in shock. His cheeks were flaming hot in embarrassment and he was starting to feel kind of faint from the blood rushing to them. 

"Then shut up," Ruki commanded as she returned her attention to making up the futon. "In case you haven't noticed, you're as pale as a Bakemon when you're not blushing and you're burning up. You're sick Ryo." 

"Well yeah, I guess," Ryo muttered lamely as he handed the blanket over to Ruki's outstretched hand. 

"And if you went home, your father would have you do some more work and you'd have no time to rest," Ruki explained as she shook out the blanket and spread it out over the sheets. "You'd just end up getting sicker." 

"Yeah..." Ryo looked down at the floor as he trailed off into silence. He didn't exactly get along with his family. He was more of a disappointment to them than anything else. Ruki was the only one who had figured that out, thankfully, and at least she didn't pity him. He wasn't sure how the others would react to it. He'd rather just keep it quiet anyway. It wasn't that big of a deal. 

"There," Ruki announced, pleased with herself as she finished fluffing out the pillow and dropped it down onto the futon. "All done." Smiling, she stepped over to Ryo and pushed him over to the futon. "It's getting late and I bet you're already tired, aren't you?" 

"Yeah, it's been a long day," Ryo admitted as he sat down on the mattress where she indicated. He was almost afraid that she might have tripped him up if he hadn't obeyed her. 

"I thought so," Ruki murmured as she gazed down at him. He was awfully cute when he looked pitiful like this. Giving in to an impulse, she leaned down and wrapped her arms around him in a hug. 

Ryo blinked dazedly before reaching up and returning the gesture. This was a surprise, but it was nice. Closing his eyes, he smiled and leaned his head against her shoulder. 

Ruki frowned worriedly as she breathed against his neck. He felt so hot, too hot. She needed to get him a glass of water and maybe a wet washcloth. Yeah, that would be good. Slowly drawing away from him, Ruki cleared her throat self-consciously before saying, "You go ahead and settle down. I'm going to go get you some water. I'll be right back." 

"Okay," Ryo agreed as he watched her walk out of the room. He wasn't quite sure what to make of this, but it was definitely nice. 

Ruki scowled as she walked into the kitchen and opened up the cupboard. She took out a glass and after a little searching dragged out a medium sized, plastic salad bowl. Tossing the bowl into the sink she turned the tap on cold, picked up the glass and went over to the refrigerator. 

Seiko walked followed her granddaughter into the kitchen and watched Ruki curiously. "Unpleasant fellow, that Mr. Akiyama," she ventured finally as Ruki filled the glass and closed the door. 

"Unpleasant isn't the word I'm thinking," Ruki said in mild disgust as she walked back over to the sink. 

"No, I wouldn't think so," Seiko chuckled as she handed the cell phone back to Ruki. "Do you need anything?" 

"Yeah, could you go get me a washcloth? It would save me an extra trip," Ruki asked as she waited for the bowl to fill up. 

"Of course dear," Seiko said before heading out towards the bathroom. She frowned once her back was to Ruki, her thoughts were troubled. Perhaps she could convince Ruki to get Ryo to spend more time at their house or one of the other children's houses. He was such a nice boy and she hadn't liked what she had heard on the phone. 

Ryo sighed as he squirmed under the blankets. It wasn't like he hadn't slept in his clothes before, and he certainly wasn't going to sleep in the buff. He didn't trust Ruki to not come barging in at the most inopportune moment. But he was hot, and he didn't know what to do about it. He looked up as Ruki walked into the room with her arms full. 

Ruki had one arm wrapped around the bowl while she held the glass in the other. It was a bit of a balancing act, but it wasn't too difficult to hold. Squatting down, she placed the glass and the bowl on the floor and then slid over to sit down beside the futon. "Here," she began as she reached into the bowl, pulled the washcloth out of the water, squeezed it out and placed it on his forehead, "this should help cool you down." 

"Thanks." Ryo smiled gently, unsure of what else he could possibly say in the face of her being so nice to him. 

"If you need anything just call, okay? I'm not too far down the hall," Ruki said as she patted him on the cheek and stood up. 

"Okay. Thanks, really," Ryo repeated, still unsure of what else to say. 

"Goodnight Ryo," Ruki murmured as she turned off the light and slid the door closed. She stared at the closed door as a memory of that horrible vision from before popped up in her thoughts. Shaking her head, she turned and headed towards her bedroom. It was just her overactive imagination. It had to be. 

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Part Written by Angra Mainyu

Left alone for the time being, Ryo tried to settle in and get to sleep. It was immediately obvious that he was just too damn _hot_. After a few minutes, he kicked the sheets off, which didn't help much. Finally, he gave up and, glancing over at the door to make sure Ruki wasn't spying on him or something, reluctantly pulled his shirt off and settled back down. It wasn't much, but it was just enough, and he finally fell into a fitful doze. 

Things long past. A little boy with dark hair (_Ken? Is that you? It's been so long..._) looked at him, a betrayed, helpless look. _You've damned me. If there's a hell, I'll be going there ... all because of you._

"No ... I ..." 

_It's all right. I know my fate. The Kaiser will come, and nothing can stop that. What was is always what was, what is is always what is, what will be is always what will be. Nothing ever changes._

"Ken, please, I never--" But Ken was gone. Ryo floated in an immaterial haze, trying to find something, anything, that could anchor him, keep him from being lost forever ... _There!_

The present, or near to it. Ryo lay on the ground, too weak to stand. His father (_not my father_) glared down at him, disgusted. Ryo's face stung. 

_So, you spent all night at some _girl's_ house, did you? Was she of age? Did she put out, or did you just stand outside her door whimpering like a dog?_

No, not this. Ryo pulled out of the dream hurriedly. Anything but that. He floated in the haze some more, trying to find a comfortable dream to rest in; he knew that if he stayed, something horrible would happen. They all looked (_felt?_) the same, though ... he picked one at random, and immersed himself totally in it. 

Devastation as far as he could see. The future. He was barely conscious. Something was holding him ... something big. But who...? 

_WHO DID THIS?!_

A village exploded into an endless stream of tiny colored bytes which dissipated into the air effortlessly. It was horrific. Ryo couldn't stop it. 

The figure which was holding Ryo looked him directly in the eyes, and suddenly, Ryo _knew_ the face. The face had haunted him since he was a child. The face of-- 

_"NO!!"_ he screamed, jerking himself into a sitting position, the now mostly dry cloth falling onto his pants. He breathed hard, a fresh wave of nausea hitting him. Ruki and Seiko rushed in quickly. Ruki flipped on the light as Seiko went over to check on Ryo. 

She felt his forehead, and shook her head. "He's burning up," she said as Ruki crossed over to where they were sitting. "I've rarely seen anyone with a fever this bad. We'll have to get him to a hospital, and--" 

_"No!"_ Ruki and Seiko jumped back a bit at the sudden forcefulness of Ryo's tone. He sighed and lowered his voice. "I mean ... I'd really rather not, unless there's no alternative. I'm sorry if I'm causing trouble." He bowed his head. 

"Don't be ridiculous, dear," Seiko sighed. "This isn't any trouble at all. Now, you should really get some rest." She patted his shoulder. 

Ryo smiled a little. "Thanks ... but I don't think I'd be able to get to sleep right now. Do you have a book or a Game Boy or something, to help pass the time?" 

Ruki stood up. "I'll go see. There should be something you'd like. However," her tone turned to ice, "I'm going to stay with you to make sure you stay all right. If this gets any worse, we are going to the hospital. Understand?" 

Ryo nodded, and Ruki left the room. He watched the closed door for a moment, then glanced over at Seiko, who was looking him over appraisingly. "What is it?" 

Seiko grinned. "Oh, nothing really. But you look like you could stand to lose a little weight." 

Ryo's face went red, and he scrambled into his shirt. 

_____________________________________________________________________ 

Part Written by Ajora

Ryo sighed as he finished buttoning up his shirt and settled into a cross-legged sitting position. At this point he didn't really trust himself to stand without going through vertigo. He was also feeling a bit worse than he had when he first laid down to sleep. Great. Usually he was fairly healthy, but- 

"I don't keep much in the way of videogames, but we can try for another chess match or a round of _go_. Do you have a preference?" 

-but then Ms. Hata did notice that he wasn't exactly as fit as he used to be, when most of his exercise was due to running after a blood-lusting Cyberdramon. There hadn't been all that much change though, only noticeable if she was actually, uhm, checking him out... 

"Ryo?" 

... he was feeling even more light-headed now. Must be all the blood redirected to his cheeks instead of his brain. Oh, someone was calling his name. Blinking, he looked up at Ruki, who arched an eyebrow at him in a mix of curiosity and mild irritation. 

"Do I _want_ to know," Ruki muttered as she settled by Ryo's side with a couple of game boxes in hand. He looked more out of it than he had earlier, but now that he was actually responsive again, he merely shook his head. 

"Well, I guess I should leave you kids alone now," Seiko stated, smiling puckishly as she did so. Leaning down, she patted Ryo on the head and winked at her granddaughter. "He's a nice catch, I suggest keeping him." 

Ruki rolled her eyes in marginal disgust at that. Sure she had been going out with Ryo for a couple of months now, but really. "Whatever." 

"If you need me, just call." The woman gave Ruki an innocent look as sharp lavender eyes fell on her in an unvoiced suggestion to go away. With pleasant thoughts of her granddaughter's lovely choice of boyfriends, which was better than some that Rumiko brought home at times, Seiko politely stepped out. No point in hanging around and watching what was no doubt going to be a long night of chess. 

.~*~. 

Somewhere in Tokyo, figures emerged that had not been seen in the real world for four years. Those who could assume a human form drifted into crowds while those who couldn't slipped into the shadows. Curious Tokyo citizens might have asked what they were looking for, and they would simply stare at the humans intently before wandering on. 

There might not have been any trouble, perhaps, if one drunk young man hadn't pestered one of the unearthly scouts. The scout narrowed feral yellow eyes and dragged the human into an alley. There was a scream that went ignored in a red-light district used to such things, and a sickening crack of bones before the human collapsed, dead. 

It wasn't until the early morning that a prostitute who worked at the sex shop nearby found the corpse. 

_____________________________________________________________________ 

Part Written by Mei-chan no Kage

Ryo smiled fondly as he looked down at Ruki. She was curled up on the side of the futon closest to the door. Her back was to him but he knew she was asleep. She had been nodding off during their last card game, which they had started when she had gotten too tired for another round of chess. 

Ryo chuckled silently as he looked back at the deck of cards he was shuffling. It was just a normal deck of cards, not the digimon card game they were so used too. They both knew better than to have a card battle anymore. Neither of them enjoyed the memories that such a thing would bring, him most of all. He had too many memories of things he shouldn't have and too many regrets buried within them. 

Ryo slammed his eyelids shut as a wave of vertigo hit. He was sick, too sick and getting sicker. His body needed medicine or something to help it out, but he'd rather be dead sick than have to deal with the repercussions that would arise from a hospital visit. Oh yes, his father would _love_ that. No, it was much better to suffer this than have to deal with _his_ reaction to something like that. 

Sighing weakly as the vertigo passed, Ryo lay down carefully on his side of the futon. Maybe if he was lying down it wouldn't be so bad the next time. Then again, maybe it would be worse. Ryo gritted his teeth as nausea bubbled up in the back of his throat. Oh no, he wasn't going to throw up. He _wouldn't_. 

Ryo blinked blankly as the nausea vanished. He wasn't hot anymore. He wasn't in Ruki's house anymore either by the look of it. Ryo glanced around in confusion as he sat up. What should have been the futon was instead a slab of flat, gray rock floating in midair. He rapped his knuckles experimentally against the stone. It _felt_ real. That didn't necessarily mean it _was_ real though. And considering that his last memory was of Ruki's guest bedroom, this was probably another dream. He must have fallen asleep. 

Ryo frowned as he climbed to his feet. This was obviously the Digital World. But why was he dreaming about it now? Turning around, he studied the mysterious location he had appeared in, though it wasn't much of a mystery. The stone he stood upon was flat and oval and similar stones stretched out in a line on either side. It was the pathway to the palace of one of the Holy Beasts. It had to be Qinglongmon's considering the enormous expanse of empty air and nothing else. 

Why would he be here in his dream? There were far more familiar places he could be. He hadn't even _been_ to Qinglongmon's palace before. He had seen it in the distance before, _far_ in the distance, but that was it. Still, if he was dreaming he was here there must be a reason for it. 

Shrugging to himself, Ryo started up the ascending side of the path. He knew Qinglongmon's palace was high in the sky, so if he just kept going up he'd reach it eventually. Maybe he could find out why he was dreaming about this place if he went there. 

Ryo blinked in mid-stride and stopped cold. Instead of the path angling up before him, the glittering blue palace of the Holy Beast rose high above him. How? As he watched, the palace began to shudder in what looked like an oncoming earthquake. Losing his footing as the shaking extended to the path and grew worse, Ryo fell backwards onto the stone. What was going on? Earthquakes didn't happen in the sky... did they? 

The palace imploded, collapsing in on itself as Ryo watched. Great clouds of dust exploded outwards as stone disintegrated under the weight of more falling stone. The palace was being destroyed right before his eyes and there was nothing he could do about it. He didn't even know _why_ it was happening. 

A dark shape darted out of the rubble, frantically flapping midnight black wings as it carried away something small and white in its arms. No, not an it, a who: Beelzebumon in his Blast Mode. He hadn't destroyed the palace, had he? No, it was Kurumon he was carrying and the little digimon didn't appear to be struggling. Then who... 

Another figure exploded out of the wreckage, obviously in pursuit of the fleeing pair. It was moving much faster and would have caught up to them in very little time, but it stopped. It turned around, as if searching for something. It had to be a digimon, though it looked almost like a human being. It... _He_ smiled as he looked down at the stone path. Ryo froze as glowing crimson eyes gazed down into his own. _He_ knew he was there. _He_ could see him. 

_Ryo._

Ryo shot off of the futon, a scream choking in his throat. He fell to his knees an instant later as nauseating vertigo pounded him back to the floor. He was... he was back in the guest bedroom and he was utterly sick again. It had been a nightmare, just another nightmare. 

He waited for the nausea to subside before looking around. Ruki was gone, he noted, and there was sunlight filtering in through the door. It was morning. He had slept til morning. That was a surprise. He still felt like absolute crap though, and he'd have to face the world again very soon. _That_ wasn't a very comforting train of thought, especially when he thought about what he'd have to face later. His father was going to kill him. 

Pressing his forehead against the cool floor, Ryo pushed those thoughts to the side. Later, he'd deal with them later. For now, he needed to get himself into some semblance of order so he could handle Ruki and her grandmother. Maybe they wouldn't tease him, though he didn't hold much hope for that. 

It took him more than one attempt to stand without falling over from the vertigo. But he did manage finally, and he teetered unsteadily on his feet. By the way his body was acting, this was going to be one hell of an awful day. 

Walking slowly over to the door, he slid it open and squinted against the harsh morning sunlight. Great, ontop of the nausea, the fever and the vertigo he now had what felt like an icepick gouging into his head right between his eyes. 

Ryo opened his eyes a fraction wider as something odd caught his eye. There was something up on the yard wall. It looked sort of like a bowling ball with wings. It twitched its wings and grinned as it looked over at him. No, definitely not a bowling ball. It was a digimon, a Pico Devimon to be exact. What was it doing in the real world? 

"Found you," it laughed, dancing gleefully on its claws before flapping off. "Found you. Found you. Found you." 

_____________________________________________________________________ 

Part Written by Ajora

He was afraid. Fear was not necessarily a new thing to him, but it had been years since he felt it. While his time during the war against D-Reaper was frightening enough, at least D-Reaper had been a faceless entity that had gone beyond its initial programming and its motive only a mutation of what it was meant to do. Even Parasimon hadn't struck this kind of fear in him. 

It had started well after the events with Parasimon. Monodramon, never much for socializing with anyone other than his own Tamer, had started becoming more reclusive and violent. Then he disappeared. Months afterwards the power of evolution was sealed within Kurumon once again. As the months turned into years, evolution stopped completely and no one knew why. Fueled by panic, rumors flared up of a new evil rising in the Digital World. For a while he believed the one that said that the Holy Beasts could handle it and were even then gathering a strike force. The Holy Beasts were defeated, one after the other. Zhuqiaomon disappeared. Baihumon went down fighting. Xuanwumon settled a treaty that was well against his favor and was neutralized, sealed. Qinglongmon was the last standing by the time he and Impmon were approaced by this faceless enemy's messenger. It had been fitting that a tsukaimon had been chosen as a messenger and they listened as it spoke. 

"My master requests your assistance in acquiring that which belongs to him." 

"Oh yeah?" Impmon snorted derisively. He remembered glancing over at Impmon and being only marginally reassured as Impmon crossed dark purple arms defiantly. At least someone was willing to stand up against the new enemy. "What happens if we don't?" 

The tsukaimon had narrowed his eyes and puffed up at the challenge. "My master desires only this one thing. Everything else he does not care for and will be destroyed in the process of acquiring this thing. He will not stop with the Digital World either." 

The threat hung heavily in the air, unspoken. He watched nervously as Impmon's defiance crumbled. The names of two young Tamers hung on the virus's lips as the memory of his own Tamer drifted to the fore. Shaochung would be in danger if this undefeatable enemy were to turn its attention to the real world. Before Lopmon could protest, the tsukaimon spoke again. 

"My master, ShinMillenniumon, rewards loyalty well. Help him acquire what he wants in the real world and what you desire will be spared." 

He remembered watching Impmon's eyes drift to the ground, taking particular interest in a pebble. Something sparked in his emerald green eyes and a smirk played on his lips just briefly before he glanced over at Lopmon and winked. He remembered watching Impmon's head rise back up and the mischief disappear from the virus's features, shielded by a carefully placed mask. Impmon had a plan. 

"Fine. We'll do what he wants." 

They had been led to ShinMillenniumon's floating palace. It was staffed by digimon whose loyalty knew no bounds and they lived well from the looks of it. Impmon hadn't said anything since, but Lopmon knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that whatever plan there was would fall into action sooner or later. 

The tsukaimon told them to wait in the empty throneroom. He took that moment to look around, noting the strange streams of data flowing to the circular pedestal on which the throne was placed. It reminded him of the wheel on Shaochung's bicycle. Cocking his head, he voiced his question of what those lines were there for. Impmon muttered dourly about how it wasn't important right now. And who did this jerk think he was to threaten their Tamers like that, anyway? And making them wait? Geez, maybe they should just take off right now! Lopmon shrugged and resumed looking around. 

Eventually a human stepped from behind a curtain near the throne. With an arrogance greater than Beelzebumon's during his most self-absorbed moments, he strode to the throne and settled upon it as if he owned the place. Now that the "human" was under light and not hidden in the shadows, he could tell it was only human in form. The skin with its tiger stripes was darker than any Lopmon had seen in his stay in the real world. The lighter markings were dark grey in tone. The humanoid digimon wore dark blue pants with lighter blue stripes on the thighs. Black leather boots graced his feet and a matching belt pinned down a loose, flowing black poet's shirt. The collar was left untied, yet the sleeves were bound under brown leather strips wrapping from his palms, to his wrists, to the elbows. The fingers were long and slender, but for some reason the middle finger on his right hand was the same crimson as his eyes. A very odd sight. And the creature's face, framed by dark blue hair, reminded him of someone. Lopmon didn't know why. Maybe it was the frown and restlessness that was all too apparent, as if the creature was waiting for someone to challenge him in battle. The hungry red eyes that reminded Lopmon of something, he couldn't quite remember what. 

"So what do ya want, big guy." Impmon began, his voice sounding almost pathetically small in the strange creature's presence. Much to Impmon's displeasure, the digimon on the throne cocked an eyebrow at this and regarded him as he would an insect. 

"What I want is simple. You two should be able to understand," ShinMillenniumon stated, as if it should be quite obvious. "I spent years longing to have my Tamer fight on the same side as I. Then for, oh, eleven or twelve months I had that. For the first time in the curse of my existence I had known happiness. It was then ripped away. I want my Tamer back." 

Something nagged at the back of Lopmon's mind. He should know who this was, but why didn't he? And, before he could think better of it... "So why don't you go get him yourself?" 

ShinMillenniumon's attention focused on him then, making him feel like a bug soon to be skewered on a pin and set in a display case. "I am busy here and cannot yet regain access to his world. You two are more familiar with it than I and better able to track him down. This shouldn't be too hard." 

Impmon crossed his arms, confident in whatever it was he had decided. "So name who it is you want and we'll go find him. But only on the condition that you leave Ai, Makoto, and Shaochung alone." 

Lopmon expected a long pause for this strange digimon to consider, but ShinMillenniumon responded with surprising quickness. "Very well then. I am a man of my word. They shall remain unharmed by me or anyone under my direct command. What I want-" ShinMillenniumon paused as he stretched out a palm. Air swirled in a sphere above it, condensed and electrical sparks bloomed out within the sphere. Finally it calmed into a disk, and within that disk was the image of someone far more familiar. "-has always been all I really wanted. My beloved." 

A slight hiss of a breath escaped his lips. Akiyama Ryo. Was this a warped evolution of Cyberdramon then? It would explain Monodramon's odd behavior, at least. But, for the safety of their Tamers, they agreed. They were allowed to evolve so that they could better fulfill their task. 

Then, one night when all was still in the palace, Beelzebumon fled with the once imprisoned Kurumon. Antiramon didn't know where to or why, but he later heard rumors. Beelzebumon fled to Qinglongmon's palace to hand the Holy Beast the power of evolution that had been sealed in Kurumon. ShinMillenniumon had been close on their trail though, and Qinglongmon was no more. Qinglongmon's palace collapsed. Something distracted ShinMillenniumon though, something the rumors couldn't quite agree on. Some said the Legendary Tamer appeared and stopped him, others said he was simply allowing them to escape. Regardless, Beelzebumon and Kurumon were free somewhere. There might be hope after all, if Guilmon and the others could find their way back to the real world. 

But to keep Shaochung safe, Antiramon had to find Ryo. He hated himself for being manipulated to do this, but there was no choice. As PicoDevimon fluttered by to report to him, his hopes sank. 

Antiramon knew fear. D-Reaper had been without reason, doing a mutation of what it was meant to do. ShinMillenniumon was far more sinister, he was doing this because he wanted to. He didn't have to, he wanted to... and for no other reason than to regain possesion of a Tamer he felt unnatural longing for. That desperation scared Antiramon more than D-Reaper ever had. 

_____________________________________________________________________ 

Part Written by Mei-chan no Kage

Matsuda Takato had a dilemma. It was a familiar dilemma of late and was really starting to grate on his nerves. He had had plans to spend the afternoon with Jenrya, hopefully without the usual lecture from Jenrya's father about digital programming. Juri, knowing that he had had plans, had called him up and told him she expected him to come visit her this afternoon. And that was the problem. 

It was a familiar dilemma because it had been happening a lot lately. He didn't know what it was with those two, but Juri definitely didn't like Jenrya spending time with him and Jenrya always got annoyed whenever he mentioned Juri. You'd think they could at least try to get along for his sake, but nooooo. 

Sighing, Takato leaned over in the chair and banged his forehead against the top of his desk. He didn't know what to do to solve it either. He had tried getting them both together to hang out, but they both came up with convenient excuses not to go. He had tried talking to them about each other, but they conveniently changed the subject. 

It was really frustrating. He didn't want to say no to Juri. She was so fragile now that he was afraid that anything negative might break her permanently. On the other hand, Jenrya was starting to get really ticked off about it which meant it was hurting his feelings. He didn't want to hurt Jenrya's feelings. But what else could he do? 

Grumbling, Takato leaned back in the chair and stared at the ceiling. He wished Guilmon was here. Things always seemed to make some sort of sense when the digimon were around. Then again, he doubted Guilmon could help him with this, but at least he'd be a sympathetic ear. After all, the people he tended to talk to about his problems were the problem. 

Lugging himself out of the chair, Takato groaned. He was just going to have to call Jenrya and cancel. Jenrya's disappointment wasn't anywhere near as dangerous as Juri's. He'd still hate himself for it though... 

Takato looked down at the desk, his thoughts trailing off as something odd caught his eye. His long dormant D-Arc lay on the wooden surface of the desk in its usual place. It wasn't dormant anymore though. It was blinking. 

~*~ 

Ryo groggily opened his eyes. Breakfast had been unusually quiet and exceptionally painless. He wasn't sure what to make of that since Ruki and her grandmother combined had a way of putting him in embarrassing situations without much effort. Instead, they had been quiet and reserved. Either they had been and were still up to something, or he was really starting to look sick. Both possibilities were highly unappealing. 

After breakfast, Ruki had bullied him back to the guest room and back into bed. He obviously didn't look bad enough for her to be sugary sweet when commanding him around, a blessing in disguise. Ryo didn't think he could handle an overtly nice Ruki when he was sick. It would just be too strange. 

This left him with a problem though. Ruki apparently wasn't going to let him go home anytime soon. He needed to get home as soon as possible so his father wouldn't kill him too much for spending the night at a girl's house. He _had_ been listening to the sounds around in the household, gauging when would be a good time to slip out. But he must have fallen asleep and was just now waking back up. Hopefully, he hadn't slept too long. 

Ryo listened carefully as he slowly rose from the futon. He couldn't hear much of anything, which was somewhat disconcerting. Then again, Ruki's family tended to be quiet... well, all except for her mother, but that didn't have any relevance at the moment. Ruki's mother was rarely around and the odds for her being home at the moment were next to nil. 

Ryo grabbed his socks off of the floor and pulled them on as he continued to listen to the house. It didn't sound like Ruki or her grandmother were nearby, but he'd have to look to be sure. He really didn't like the idea of running out on them, but the consequences of him not getting home soon would be dire if they weren't already. Ruki's anger would be far easier to face than his father's. 

Quietly padding over to the door, Ryo slid it open a crack and peered out into the hallway. So far so good, it was empty. Sliding the screen open further, he headed towards the front door as fast and silent as he could manage. The vertigo that he was starting to feel every time he stood up wasn't helping much, but he was getting used to it. As long as it didn't get bad enough to make him throw up, he could handle it. 

Ryo assumed Ruki and her grandmother were in their rooms because he managed to get to the front door without any problems. Reluctantly, he slipped his shoes on and reached for the doorknob. He turned it slowly, but it still squeaked ever so slightly. He grimaced, but they must not have heard it because neither of them came to investigate. Sighing thankfully, Ryo stepped outside and headed for home. It wasn't going to be a pleasant journey, but he could at least distract himself with wondering over what that Pico Devimon had been on about and what it had been doing in the real world in the first place. 

~*~ 

Mornings on an offday were usually quiet and serene at Yamaki Mitsuo's apartment. This morning was turning out to be much like the rest, not that he was complaining. Peace and quiet were something he appreciated. 

Yamaki set his laptop to hibernate and leaned back against the couch as Reika brought in some tea. He was quite pleased with his progress. He had already finished up a few projects and started on a few more that were pending. In fact, he was doing so good he could probably leave off for the afternoon and relax with Reika. 

The sunlight filtering in from the window glinted off the simple gold band nestled on Reika's ring finger as she handed him a cup. Yamaki's lips twisted up at the reminder of how she had managed to get him to agree to the marriage. Not that he would ever complain, work wasn't quite as _intense_ as it once was. The environment engendered less stress and allowed for such peaceful domesticity. Of course, he'd never admit that he hadn't had quite as many reservations about it than he would have had before. One must always be wary of the pitfall known as complacency. 

The tea was once again oolong. He wasn't quite sure whether Reika had developed a taste for it or if she was trying to hint at something. She could be rather vague at times when it involved things she just didn't know how to voice. Still, she didn't appear as if anything was troubling her. 

The phone ringing prevented Yamaki from pondering upon it any further. Reika smiled at him apologetically as she set her teacup down on the coffee table and then went to get it. She was gone for a few moments, and the conversation was too muffled for him to hear what it was about. However, when Reika returned with a dour expression and carrying the cordless he knew it couldn't be good. 

"Yamaki Sir, it's for you," Reika announced tonelessly. Yamaki, not Mitsuo. That meant it was something serious that involved work, and that usually meant one thing: digimon. 

~*~ 

Ruki looked up at her clock from where she was laying on her futon reading a book. It had been a half hour since she had checked on Ryo, she should probably go look in on him again. Stretching languidly, she marked her place in the book and climbed to her feet. The book was okay, but it wasn't much distraction from worrying about her house guest at the moment. He hadn't looked good at breakfast. 

Ruki smirked at her own thoughts as she walked into the hallway and headed towards the guest room. Who would have thought she'd actually be worried about him now. She had pretty much hated his guts for a while back then. He _did_ have a way of ingratiating himself to people though. It had to be that kicked puppy look of his. 

Ruki frowned when she saw that the screen was already open to the guest room. "Ryo?" she asked hesitantly as she glanced within. The futon was empty along with the rest of the room. Now where did he get off to? He has to be somewhere in the house, she thought as she turned and headed further down the hall. 

Ruki froze as she noticed something out of place in the entryway. Ryo's shoes were gone. The worry she had felt at his well-being was instantly replaced with something more akin to murderous rage. "That idiot," she snarled as she stalked over and started putting on her own shoes. That inconsiderate jerk! Here she was worrying about him and he had gone and sneaked out on her. If he didn't manage to kill himself with this little outing she'd do it for him. 

Flinging the door open in barely restrained fury, Ruki ran out to the street. She was just starting to look around, hoping he might still be in sight, when she heard a yell of "Hell's Hand!" off to the right and vaguely saw what looked like a bony, clawed hand before something clipped her on the shoulder **hard**. The next thing Ruki knew she was lying on the ground right in front of her front door. Her entire left side stung horribly, probably from where she had skidded across the cement. Looking up painfully, Ruki felt her inside turn to ice in fear as she got a good look at what had attacked her. 

The Bakemon grinned as it floated closer to its human prey. "Pretty pretty little Tamer," it snickered maliciously. "I know I saw that flying pest fluttering off from somewhere around here. So, pretty pretty little Tamer, tell me where the Akiyama is and I'll make sure your death isn't too painful." 

Ruki stared up in horror at what she knew would be certain death. There was no way to defend herself from a champion's attack. She couldn't even protect herself from a rookie. She wasn't a digimon. She was going to die... 

Unconsciously, Ruki had started to scoot back from the very real threat when another yell rang out overhead, one she was far more familiar with. The Bakemon managed somehow to dodge the Fox Leaf Arrowhead but he couldn't avoid the follow-up Wisteria Punch. Ruki stared blankly as the ghost digimon dissolved into data. She blinked as the victor walked through the fading remains. 

"Ruki?" Renamon asked worriedly as Ruki continued to just stare up at her. Kneeling down, she gently cupped her paw over her Tamer's cheek. "Ruki, are you all right?" 

"Renamon?" Ruki murmured in disbelief as she reached up to touch her partner's paw. "What are you doing here?" She didn't hear the answer though, the instant she touched Renamon's fur with her fingertips the world faded away and she found herself somewhere else. 

She stood in the middle of a black walled bedroom. It was ornately decorated with antique style European furniture. That all paled in comparison to the carved, black-stained wood, four-poster bed that was centered on one of the walls. It was draped in blood red silk and heavy curtains fell from the canopy obscuring view of what lay upon it. There was someone there though, she could hear them breathing in the silence. Each breath was labored as if the person was sick or something. In fact, now that she thought about it, that sounded awfully familiar... 

"Ryo!" Ruki squeaked out as she ran over to the bed and threw the curtains back. She managed to get a quick glance of Ryo looking as pale as death before something wrapped around her throat and yanked her back away. She was being choked by someone. She reached up, trying to pry them off of her, but they were too strong. She couldn't get free. The world began to fade away again and this time she was certain she was going to die. 

"He's mine," a bass voice whispered menacingly into her ear. "He belongs to me. Try to claim him again and I'll make sure you have a perfect view when I kill your precious digimon." 

Ruki tried to scream but it choked in her throat along with the remains of her life. She closed her eyes to the heavy, encroaching darkness... and then opened them to Renamon gazing at her in mounting concern. Her partner had her by the shoulders and was shaking her insistently. 

"Ruki? Ruki, wake up. Ruki, please come back," Renamon asked anxiously. She knew that whatever it was that had taken her Tamer away from her, it hadn't been the Bakemon. There was a presence in the air, one that sent chills down her spine. But before she could try to figure out what it was, she had to get Ruki back. 

"Renamon?" Ruki mouthed silently. The world was coming back piece by piece. Renamon was first, but then came the brightness of the sunlight, the house behind her, the blue of the sky. Smells came along right after sight with that strange metallic odor that followed the deletion of a digimon in the real world. It stung her nose with every breath she took. Pain came next, her left side ached from where it had been scraped against the cement during the Bakemon's attack. 

The vision slowly faded from her mind, leaving stark fear in its wake. Renamon might get hurt, but Ryo certainly would be hurt. She had to find him, fast, before something awful happened. "Ryo!" 

~*~ 

The digital fog glittered in the sunlight as it faded from a construction site nestled amidst the high rises of the business district. Beelzebumon collapsed to his knees, breathing raggedly as his vision faded in and out. Kurumon wiggled out of his arms and watched worriedly as black feathers dripped out of Beelzebumon's wings and his Blast Mode melted away. 

It _hurt_. It hurt like a bitch, but at least he'd managed to maintain the form long enough to get Kurumon out of the Digital World. He could deal with the pain from his wounds. It wasn't like he hadn't been through worse before. The exhaustion, though, was another matter altogether. He needed to rest, otherwise he might devolve at a very, very bad moment. 

"Ku~ru," Kurumon murmured, unsure of what he could do to help. He wasn't very good at these type of things. Maybe if he found Takato... surely the Tamer would know what to do. Yes, that seemed like a good idea. "Kuru! I'll go get help!" 

Beelzebumon's hand whipped out and grabbed the little digimon before he could even turn around. "No!" Beelzebumon rasped out, his breath coming harder, more pained from the effort. "Stay near me! Do you understand? Don't let anyone else touch you. We don't know who might be in league with that bastard. If he catches you again, I don't... I don't know if I'll be able to help again." He sighed wearily and closed his eyes. "We can't trust anyone." 

_____________________________________________________________________ 

Part Written by Ajora

Since moving from Fukuoka in Kyushu to the Ginza area of Tokyo two years ago, Ryo's life had settled more or less into a fairly respectable pattern of normalcy. It had taken weeks of outright begging to get his father to accept the job offer near Shinbashi, but he was tired of being lonely and was desperate for the company of the other tamers. He no longer played the digimon card game and avoided publicity as much as possible now. In time, his fandom left him alone and gravitated to other people. And, while not as close to Shinjuku as he'd like, it was close enough to at least make periodic visits with the others. 

Unfortunately, there was the issue of his father. It wasn't that Dad was abusive or anything; all things considered, his father wasn't all that bad. It was just so frustrating being unable to meet Dad's expectations. Dad didn't approve of his digimon, the way he lived his life and tried to be independent, or the people he associated with ("What are you doing with kids four years younger than you," was a question that often went unanswered). As he grew older there were more and more clashes over what was considered acceptable behavior in the Akiyama household, and often he would run out of the apartment until he found himself on the first train out of Shinbashi station. Then there would be the icy glares from Dad when he returned and tighter restrictions that made him chafe even more. Sometimes Dad even made a point to cut off any phone calls meant for him for several days as punishment. 

Sighing miserably, Ryo stepped off the train and onto the platform of Shinbashi Station. His head ached viciously from the motion sickness that only amplified whatever it was he came down with before getting on the train. Maybe he might luck out and Dad would let him sleep before starting another confrontation. Wait, not likely. 

As he stepped outside, the memories of the dream he had the night before drifted from the back of his mind. There was that boy, Ken. He did remember the boy, but not very well since there was a lot he didn't remember. Then there was that nightmare encounter with his father over him staying at Ruki's overnight. He knew his father wouldn't approve of Ruki, especially considering the age difference and that Ruki was from a section of Tokyo known for its seedy underworld, and he had a habit of letting that kind of knowledge fester to grow out of proportions. It was why he would never actually try anything with Ruki unless she started it first, he worried that she might push him away and never want to see him again. Then he would be alone. Teasing her ever so often was as far as he would dare go. So far it seemed to work, but he feared that if his father found out, the confrontation would be more explosive than usual. 

The young man paused at an intersection to lean against the street lamp and catch his breath. The act of breathing became more of an effort as time passed, it was as if a pair of giant claws were wrapped around his lungs and squeezed tighter with every hour that went by. He would survive though, no matter how pleasant the thought of death might be at the moment. He always survived. And, as much as it hurt to keep going, he faintly remembered being through worse. He remembered pulling himself from the rubble of an explosion, then staring at his once-pristine white gloves that were ripped in places and soaked with blood. The pain had been worse then, but he survived. 

Ryo clenched his teeth as his vision started shifting into what might have been the beginning of a spin. He closed his eyes as he forced himself to override the vertigo and nausea that followed it. Moments passed before his sense of balance managed to stabilize itself, then everything _shifted_ and he fell. 

He never hit the ground. 

.~*~. 

In darkness interrupted only by the muted glow of data streams sat a solitary figure. His breathing was as steady as the ticking of a metronome as the data streams flowed information into and out of his manufactured body. This was how he managed to be successful, time and again, when all others failed. When he had no body it was easier to focus on all the incoming data, process it, and give orders as he saw fit. But something had nagged at the back of his mind since he first hatched, he was never able to figure out what. It was just that something was missing. 

He remembered ripping the Digital World apart trying to find that something. Then eight Chosen Children tried to stop him, but they were easily imprisoned and scattered among those evil digimon he resurrected as insurance that they could not help each other escape. He had thought he covered all the bases, thought everything would go as planned. Without other Chosen to interfere he could do as he wished. Agumon then escaped with Yagami's digivice. He had dismissed it as inconsequential: for, without the Child, both digivice and digimon were useless. He would never make such a mistake again. Agumon and Gennai had managed to find another child, one that had no digimon partner of his own. Once again he had ignored the insignificant threat this child possessed. Another mistake he would not make again. The boy defeated his minions and allies by raising up a revolution, forcing him to pay attention to the immediate situation instead of his search. 

And he found what he had been looking for in the form of a scrawny, gawky young boy. Oh, he had been absolutely furious at first. How dare this insignificant boy challenge his reign! Then, to his immense surprise, he had been defeated by the boy with no digimon or digivice to call his own. He obsessed over having his revenge to the point where nothing else mattered, he hadn't even tried to figure out just why he was drawn to the boy until his physical body had been destroyed. The brief imprisonment within the crystal, however, gave him time enough to contemplate other things. 

With his body gone and his more destructive powers muted, he tapped into another's power and made it his own. He did not know its name back then, but now it seemed almost ironic that he had usurped Atanasoff's long-dormant powers of ascending time within the Digital World. In an infinite second he saw past, present and future. It was in that moment he learned of the partnership and _knew_ why that boy was the only one who could defeat him. 

Ryo was meant to be _his_. Not Gennai's to order around. Not the Holy Beasts's to act as a puppet. Not the Chosen Children's to delude into thinking he was actually their friend, while they were using him all that time. _Everyone_ had been using _his_ child for _their_ own ends, and Ryo had been either entirely willing or never figured it out. The injustice of it enraged him and gave him a reason to lash out against the Digital World. It was _their_ fault _his_ child could never go home again, _their_ fault Ryo was alone and felt worse whenever a temporary digimon would leave, _their_ fault he was a pawn. 

Millenniumon knew he had a purpose then. He would have his revenge on _them_ for Ryo, since his child wouldn't even think about rebelling. No, Ryo only took a stance against something if the boy thought it was the right thing to do. It was a remarkable trait, but one that ultimately ran against his dear boy's favor. It was his duty, then, to subdue the Digital World and the digimon he hated with a passion. He had also chosen to train his child to be better than the others. Thus he sent his despised minions against Ryo as part of a game that would make his boy the greatest Tamer in existence. It worked wonderfully. In the end he was proud of his beloved boy, even if Ryo hated him for it. 

His time with Ryo as Cyberdramon had been wonderful, but he wanted more. He wanted his beloved to himself, and had broken the Jogress with Monodramon once he was strong enough and no one was around to watch. He continued the human cloning experiment he began in the period before the Jogress, working tirelessly until he created a body for himself that was human in form and function. With it he could- 

A news document freshly uploaded to the internet caught his attention. Taking the time away from his plans for the moment, ShinMillenniumon opened the file and narrowed his eyes as he viewed the video source. 

Antiramon had been careless in abducting his beloved boy. With the search for Ryo resulting in the deaths of several humans that had tried to interfere, the media had been on alert and evidence of the abduction was captured on film. He would have been quite pleased with the abduction had Antiramon not been caught on a tape that was now airing on the local Tokyo news network and likely caught the attention of the other tamers. 

With a grunt of mild disgust at the way the little rabbit handled things and a parting command to the group of floramon responsible for preparing his quarters, ShinMillenniumon disengaged the data streams and rose from his throne. His human skin tingled with the electricity that still sparked along his nerves, but he had long become used to the sensation and his mind was focused on other things. It was time to claim what was rightfully _his_. 

_____________________________________________________________________ 

The next part will be up whenever we get around to the next ten thousand words. Until then, enjoy. 


	2. Disturbing Occurrences

**Infinite Obsession  
Part 2 - Disturbing Occurrences**

* * *

Disturbing Content Warning: So yeeeeaaahh, there's some kinda disturbing content for the faint of heart this time around (or... well, compassionate people in general). So, you are fairly warned.

* * *

Part Written by Mabis

Picodevimon was a virus digimon. He knew this and he knew this well. He also knew that the digimon he worked for, Antiramon, was a data type, but that did not matter. His boss had given him some fairly nasty assignments, but he always did them without thinking. He knew it was his job to carry out his master's orders, no matter how destructive they were.

Right now Antiramon had no orders for him, so Picodevimon was free to do as he pleased for the moment. Back in the Digital world, Picodevimon usually spent his free time abusing vaccine digimon, and perhaps the occasional data types. Of course, now that he was in the real world, picking on digimon was not an option. He looked down from his perch on a telephone pole and watched with some amusement at the humans, as they were called, scurried along below him. From what he could tell, these humans would be almost too easy targets. But that would cause a scene, and Picodevimon was told not to make a scene unless it was specifically ordered. It would cause too much trouble.

Which left Picodevimon without much to do. He mentally sighed, and looked around for living things other than humans. After all, nothing was said about the other, smaller creatures that inhabited the real world. Without much trouble he spotted a creature that looked a lot like a tailmon. Curious, he flew over to the creature. The creature made some sort of hissing noise when he approached, and waved what looked like a paw at him, scratching his foot.

"If that's the best you can do," Picodevimon said to the creature after examining his foot, "then you should be even easier prey than those humans." He picked up the creature with his claws, and flew several feet in the air. He threw the creature at a nearby wall, heard some sort of crunching noise as it hit the wall, then watched as the creature landed with a thud on the ground. Picodevimon waited for the creature to get up and start attacking, but instead, it continued to lie there, now with red fluid coming from its body.

"You mean you're done already?" Picodevimon asked when he landed next to the still creature. He kicked it a few times when there was no reply, but the creature still did not stir. With caution, he looked right in the face of the creature. There was no movement of any kind, not even the faint sound of it breathing.

Picodevimon was now extremely curious. The creature was not moving, nor was it breathing. The thought of death occurred to him, but digimon always got deleted when they die, and their data was sent somewhere to be reconfigured. If this creature was dead, why wasn't it being deleted? Perhaps it wasn't dead, but merely playing dead so that the attacker would leave. Picodevimon gave the creature a large slash with his claw, but the creature still did not move. Instead, more of that red liquid came out, now forming a puddle and staining the creature's fur.

"So this is what death is in the real world," Picodevimon finally said. How different it was. He wondered what would happen to the body, as it seemed like it wasn't going anywhere. It would eventually disappear and form something else, right? He waited for a few minutes, but the body remained there. A few insects were now starting to fly around it.

Picodevimon started feeling a little anxious. Dead bodies didn't disappear and turn into something new in the real world. That discovery made him slightly uncomfortable. "Death is final in the real world," he muttered to himself. He looked at the dead creature, now soaked in its own blood. If he had known beforehand, he probably wouldn't have thrown the creature so hard. But then again, the creature was so weak compared to the digimon he was used to. Such a throw wouldn't have even knocked out a child digimon.

But none of that mattered anymore. He made a mental note about how weak creatures were in this world, and flew off. As he perched on the same telephone pole as before, he once again wished he knew how weak the creature was before he started playing with it. After all, he really wasn't intending to kill it.

Picodevimon shook his head. "It doesn't matter if I killed it or not. I am a virus, after all." With that, he flew off in search of something else to do while he waited for his master's orders.

* * *

Part Written by Meimi no Kage

Takato had enough presence of mind to look both ways before crossing the streets and to avoid running into people, but the majority of his concentration was focused solely on following the blinking compass of his D-Arc. It had taken him out of the small residential business district his family called home, into another strictly residential area and then again into another business district. He was starting to get tired. He had never been used to this much running, but his excitement was still too great to slow down yet. The blinking compass could only mean one thing and it had been quite a while since the last time he had seen Guilmon.

With the upcoming reunion in the forefront of his mind, Takato looked down to check the directional arrow again and plowed into a girl who had just rounded the street corner. Takato pinwheeled his arms to keep from falling over and somehow managed to succeed in keeping his balance. The girl he had run into wasn't so lucky though. She practically bounced off of him and fell backwards, yelping as she landed hard on her rear.

"Ow! That hurt! Why don't you watch" She cried out angrily, then trailed off in surprise as she finally got a good look at the person who had run into her. "Takato?"

"Eh?" Takato blinked blankly down at her for a moment, noticing the Chinese style clothing and the shiny black hair caught up in pigtails before he realized who it was. "Shaochung, what are you doing here?" he asked curiously as he offered her his hand.

"We're looking for Lopmon," she answered as she took his hand and pulled herself up. Once she was back on her feet she brandished her D-Arc proudly and continued, "The direction was pretty steady for awhile there, but now it's jumping all over the place. We can't keep up." Frowning, she asked him hesitantly, "Do you think he's looking for me too?"

'We? We who?' Takato thought in confusion. "I'm sure he is," he said reassuringly when he noticed her frown deepening. She smiled weakly at that and he patted her on the shoulder before asking, "What did you mean by we?"

"Oh! Jenrya's right behind me," Shaochung said brightly as she pointed behind her at an empty street. She blinked at it and then laughed weakly in embarrassment. "Oops, I guess I ran too fast."

"Eh-heh." Takato rubbed the back of his neck and mentally sighed. Part of him wanted to go ahead and ditch Shaochung and get back to his search, but the rest of him was telling him to be polite and at least wait for Jenrya to catch up before deciding on what to do. Besides, he'd never forgive himself if he up and left her alone. He knew she could take care of herself, and she wasn't such a little girl anymore, but she was still more like a baby sister to him than anything else. 'Hurry up Jen.'

"Shaochung?"

Takato frowned and glanced around for the speaker. That didn't sound like Jenrya. The pitch was too high, and speaking of which, it had sounded like it had come from... above them?

Shaochung tilted her head back and glanced up at about the same time Takato realized where the query had come from. Floating several feet above them in the air was something that looked like a cream colored cross between a dog and a rabbit. "Terriermon!" Shaochung yelled gleefully as she waved her arms up at him.

"It _is_ you," Terriermon said in surprise as he floated down towards the pair. "You're... bigger."

"Of course I am," Shaochung said matter of factly as she put her hands on her hips. "I grew up. That's what people do, you know."

"If you say so," Terriermon muttered, sounding slightly unconvinced. Then he grimaced as something occurred to him. "Jen didn't grow twice as big did he?"

"No," Takato chuckled as a mental image of Jenrya grown to the size of Godzilla popped up in his head, "The older a person gets the less they grow."

"Oh." Terriermon seemed to ponder upon this odd fact for a moment before he shook his head and asked, "Where _is_ Jen anyway?"

"Right here," a winded voice muttered sourly behind them. Shaochung eeped as they all whipped around to see Jenrya eyeing his sister in a reproachful manner. "You shouldn't have run off Shaochung."

"Sorry," she murmured, skuffing the toe of her right shoe on the sidewalk. "I was just excited... and _you_ were being too slow."

"Running off in the middle of a traffic light when we _know_ there are digimon around is not smart," Jenrya growled, scowling fiercely down at Shaochung as she pouted. "What if you had gotten hit by a car or if you ran into a bad digimon? What would you do then?"

"Okay okay, I'm sorry," Shaochung apologized, hanging her head meekly hoping that would appease her big brother. She peeked up at him to see whether he bought it or not and giggled when Terriermon took his silence as the chance to pounce on him.

"Jen!" Terriermon crowed exuberantly as he latched onto the front of Jenrya's shirt and wrapped his ears around his partner's neck. "Did you miss me?"

"Of course." Hugging the little digimon tightly, Jenrya forgot about his annoyance at and worry about Shaochung for the moment. "You shouldn't even have to ask. You know I did."

Takato stood off to the side, feeling like the proverbial third wheel. There was a bit too much moisture gathering in the corners of his eyes, so he looked around for anything to distract him from his friends' happy reunion. He wanted to be the person hugging his own digimon, and it would happen soon, just not soon enough for his liking. Noticing a bank of television set up as an advertisement, he stopped and stared at the news flash.

Takato now had his distraction, but he was fervently wishing he didn't. He watched dazedly as the news continued, showing a rather large and gangly looking rabbit type digimon scooping someone, who looked far too familiar for his taste, up off of the street and then bounding off to who knew where. That couldn't possibly be...

Shaochung stepped up beside him, her mouth agape as what they all now saw on the tv screens. "What is he doing!"

* * *

Part Written by Ajora

It was only a job, Antiramon reminded himself as he bounded away from the area where he had picked up Akiyama - no, his prey. Just a job to keep Shaochung safe. In hindsight he realized that it had been really stupid to have caught the attention of a nearby camera crew that was reporting on a death caused by one of the scouts, but he hoped it would alert the other Tamers to the matter, even if it meant losing their trust once and for all. It was regrettable, but there was no other option and he didn't trust PicoDevimon and the others under his command to handle the young man safely. Maybe they would understand. Hopefully.

Antiramon lost whatever cars were following him easily, and soon enough the trees of Shinjuku Gyoen hid him from any aerial pursuit. It would be enough of a hint for the others to pick up on. And, thanks to his formidable speed, the large rabbit soon found himself plunging into the digital gate that ShinMillenniumon had ripped open there. The transition that followed in the jump between worlds was greatly disorienting, but he managed to get through well enough.

Allowing himself a moment's respite, Antiramon paused to gaze down at the human in his hands. Akiyama was completely unconscious now, looking paler than any human Antiramon could ever remember seeing. That was bad, he was sure, but surely Akiyama's current state was not his fault. After all, the human had looked this way before Antiramon caught him and ShinMillenniumon couldn't very well blame him for that, right? With a disgruntled sigh, Antiramon shook out his ears once before making his way towards one of the telltale circles that marked the teleporter network. It was a long journey to get to the one teleport pad that led to ShinMillenniumon's crystal palace.

-.-

ShinMillenniumon paused on the way to the palace's entrance when his eyes caught sight of a polished mirror. His form was monstrous once, a hideous conglomeration of two digimon whose original personalities were lost in the Jogress that birthed him. No trace of either Chimeramon or Mugendramon's personalities could be found in his, yet until recently he could not rid himself of the physical reminders.

Oddly, the Jogress with Monodramon did not deprive either of their original identities. He wondered about that at times, but considered it of little consequence. So long as he remained himself, he had little care for the dragon whose body he was forced to cohabit for a while. Letting the little dragon have control for a while allowed him time to focus on other matters he kept locked away in recesses so deep that even Ryo could not find them while they were linked as Justimon. After all, before that little dragon came along he had already been working on creating a body to house a spirit whose grotesque original form was killed long ago.

The clones of Taichi and the others that he sent against Ryo so long ago, those were merely successful byproducts of a long period of experimentation. He had come to loathe other digimon more than he hated himself for what he was, and from that came a desire to be something else. Humans had created digimon, thus in their own way they were gods greater than the Holy Beasts. As a self-styled evil god, he sought to take the form of a true god. A human.

Restless red eyes glanced back at him, set in a dark-toned face and framed by even darker hair. The body he constructed for himself had not always looked this way. Originally it had been fair of skin and hair, with eyes that were a lighter shade of blue than Ryo's. But somehow, once he loaded his data into the artificial body, it began taking on the coloration he had before Ryo killed him the first time. Dark. Everything was dark. He had yet to figure out just why it had turned out this way, but surely he would fix it in time. At least he had a body that was fully operational now, perfect in every way except for that particular pigmentation flaw and better by far than the grotesque monster he had once been. Smirking at that, he passed the mirror and resumed his walk. He was quite pleased with himself and it was nice to have a body to himself again without having to put up with that little dragon vying with him for control. A body that could feel everything that life could offer.

Digimon of all data types and growth levels that had sworn their allegiance to him parted from his path with quick nods or bows of respect, unaware of how he hated them all. They learned to fear him first, but fear could only work as a tool for governing for so long. For several years he had Kurumon to reward the loyal ones with evolution, but now he had to either recapture Kurumon or figure out something else to use for that purpose. So far it didn't seem as if there was an immediate need. Regardless, it would be prudent to send a few of the scout parties out to look for Kurumon now that their main purpose had been accomplished.

ShinMillenniumon waited patiently for Antiramon's arrival, and it wasn't long before the giant rabbit materialized on the teleport pad. With a small breath of relief, he stretched out his arms. "Give him to me," he commanded when the rabbit hesitated.

Antiramon cocked his head at that and gently handed the unconscious Tamer over to ShinMillenniumon. He watched quizzically as the digimon with a human body actually smiled and embraced Ryo. Maybe he would get away with screwing up after all.

The evil god allowed himself only a moment to enjoy the reunion before he realized that his partner was completely unresponsive. Ryo's skin felt far too hot for his peace of mind and was slick with sweat that didn't seem healthy. He had always imagined it to be different, led himself to believe that Ryo had been fine without him and that when they would reunite there would be one of those delightful arguments and he would be able to convince Ryo that it was for the best. Then he'd make Ryo forget all about that bitch and things would be as they were meant to be. But now the reality was far from reflecting the fantasy. The more he thought on it, the more it stoked his rage. First the rabbit had gotten caught on video, then this. Oh, it probably wasn't the rabbit's fault, but the frustration and anger turned on itself like a snake devouring its own tail. ShinMillenniumon was quite familiar with this unhealthy tendency to allow such things to fester, but never did anything to still it.

It began as an almost inaudible growl deep within the dark god's throat that Antiramon only heard because his ears allowed for excellent audio reception. It was enough to make his skin crawl and set off a sense of alarm. Then the growl built into a very sinister snarl as ShinMillenniumon's feral red eyes fixed on him. Antiramon turned and bolted towards the digital gate the moment he recognized the look of mindless rage on the evil god's face. Time seemed to slow as Antiramon raced to the portal, then...

"Event Horizon," roared the bestial voice. Antiramon fell as the attack hit with the force of crushing gravity that would have killed a human. It was unbearably painful to move and his body felt as if it was made of a far denser substance than lead. But the digital gate was so close by that he would have made it if he had taken just a few more steps. Antiramon closed his eyes as the attack ground away the last of his strength, forcing him to devolve. Lopmon let out a pathetic whimper as the effects of the attack faded, waiting in terror for the blast he was sure would follow. A new tremor shook his small body as he heard ShinMillenniumon stride up to him. He quaked even more when he heard the evil god suddenly give a low, throaty chuckle and stopped behind him. Oh no, ShinMillenniumon was going to do something even worse to him. Therefore, it came as a complete surprise when he felt a sharp pain in his side that sent him flying into the digital portal.

With a huff of annoyance, ShinMillenniumon turned to walk back to the palace with Ryo in his arms. It would have been easy to kill off Lopmon and cannibalize the data, but he had a certain amount of integrity and didn't believe in killing someone who had achieved the goal he had set. Well, not really. The rabbit should be grateful that it was getting away with its hide more or less intact.

* * *

ZOMG, will there be more? Hopefully! We're working on it at least.


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